Dear Atria,One of my friends on Facebook posted this little story and I thought it carries very important and simple advice, so I want to share it with you. I hope you will like it and will try to implement it in your own life. i know sometimes it won’t be easy, but if you do, you will be much happier person. I am trying all the time... So, now the story:

The 92 year old, petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, with her hair fashionably coiffed and make-up perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she manoeuvred her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window. “I love it” - she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight year old having just been presented with a new puppy.

“Mrs Jones, you haven’t seen the room... just wait”.

“That doesn’t have anything to do with it,” she replied. “Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged, it’s how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away, just for this time in my life.”

She went on to explain, “Old age is like a bank account, you withdraw from what you’ve put in. So my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories. Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank, I am still depositing.”

And with a smile she said: “Remember the five simple rules to be happy: 1. Free your heart from hatred.2. Free your mind from worries.3. Live simply.4. Give more.5. Expect less.”